Teaching in thailand part 2

Again, more emails I decided to port over. I hope they help.

Fabs:

Hey there Jen!

I woke up this morning with the fantastic idea in my head to teach languages in Thailand.
Could you share some experiences with me? According to your post in the teaching in Bankok group it wasn't too hard to find a job?!

Thanks a lot! :)


Jen:

It really depends what kind of person you are. You do not say very much about yourself in your profile, so I do not know much more to say then that.
I think it can be really good, but teaching is definitely not for everyone. If you are just out here to make a little money while backpacking around Asia, then do not bother. If you want some experiences teaching in a very different environment, then this is a good place to start.

To teach in Thailand legally you need a few things. Either a Bachelor's degree in Education or A Bachelor's degree in - well anything - and a teaching certificate (TESOL, TEFL, CELTA or other). You will also need to have a 3 day Thai Culture class.
If you have a BA or BS the others are not hard to get, and can even be done here in Thailand through a variety of companies, most of which will also find you a job.
It is possible to teach without any of that, they are not technically legitimate positions, but for that you are on your own. Welcome to second world Asia, corruption is not uncommon.

As for Thailand and Thai people, let me be honest.
You might have a bit of trouble proving that you speak English (because you do not come from one of the "big 4" English speaking countries), however if you are White skinned, so it shouldn't be a problem. I know that sounds mean, but its just a fact of life out here.
I really like Thailand. Bangkok is as busy a city as anyone could ask for. It has decent public transportation and most everything a person could ask for can be found here. However, Thai's are very disorganized. They do not take the notion of being "on time" seriously.If that is something that really bothers you, then I would recommend a different county (like Japan, maybe). Also, in Euro or Dollar comparison you will make very little money here. However, since everything is Thailand is very cheap, you will make plenty to live here.

I hope that helps. My best suggestion is to do your research. There are tons of stories on the Internet. Personally, I was supposed to go to Korea originally, but after reading what others had to say, I decided on Thailand. I am really glad I did, because I love it here and I think I will stay for an extra semester (or maybe the rest of my life).

Please let me know if there is anything else you want to know.

ลาก่อน,
Jen


Fabs:

Do you have any experience with schools that provide the teaching certificates? Prices and when courses start?


Jen:

I only know about the one I attended. It is called ATI and they are a USA based company. The course in thailand was about $950 which included 3 weeks of hotel room, and the class in Bangkok. It also placed me in my current school.
i would highly recomend a TESOL course, because they teach a lot about teaching methods.

their thailand website is http://www.tesolcoursethailand.com/

I know there are a bunch of other schools out there too. I just havent taken their course, so I cannot say either way. Search TESOL, TEFL, or CELTA on the net and you should find some.
There are lots of scams though, so I suggest using an escrow or backed credit service.

One thing to keep in mind about Thailand though is that you can only stay here for 30-90 days at a time before you have to make a visa run to one of the bordering countries. Its a good opertunity to go see new places, but it doesnt hurt to buy a multi-entry visa if your country allows it. They can really save money in the long run. You will still have to make a border run, but you wont have to stay overnight in the other countries, or go to the Thai Embassy there. I wish someone had told me that when I went to school.

Teaching in thailand

This was originaly a letter to Amanda who asked me what teaching was like. I figured I would share it here for anyone interested.

Actually, Im glad to hear that people are actually listening to what I say.
I had set up a blog, but I havent updated it ages. I seem to use Google Buzz more.

I am currently teaching 14-18 year olds. I am the only "farang" (thai word for forigner - specifically white ones) teacher at my school. though there are 3 other Thai english teachers and 2 chinese teachers. My classes have about 30 students and my class rooms are pretty bare. Seats, white board, (and because I am lucky, most of my rooms have air conditioning) thats about it. I teach 4-6 classes a day, which equals about 25 hours of teaching time a week. I am supposed to stay at the school from 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM though, even if I am not teaching. 2 of my classes are Intro (meets 3 times a week), 3 classes are Level 1 (meets 4 times a week), and 7 classes are "lab" - which is kind of english study hall - though according to farang teachers at other schools, mine seems to be the only school that does that.

All of my students wear uniforms. Classes are often cancled due to school events, which I am usually not told about ahead of time. Kids are usually silent and its hard to get them to speak in english because they are afraid of "losing face".

As for teaching. If you have an option to take a TESOL course and/or culture course for your country, i hightly suggest it. To teach you will use a lot of gestures. It takes a long time for students to realize they can understand you without knowing every word you say.
for my students I have found they know a ton of nouns and very little else (they knew these before I started teaching). They do not know how to make sentences and there pronunciation is very hard to understand. But they are pretty good at reading and writing.
There is a surprising amount of english on advertisments, but its usually suplamented by Thai, and often they have words that dont make sense together. for example there are some popular shops out here called "Panda soup" (the a's are written backwards) and "Beauty Cake".

Random rant #32 (nonconsecutive)

(copied from buzz, but not transliterated)

Its all the little things out here that are so very strange...The bus only kinda stops, so you have to run to it...the air conditioned one is 16 baht, the other one is sometimes free and sometimes not (no I have not figured out why, or how to predict). either way, I am likely to get steped on in places that I didn't think it was possible.
moterbikes are amazingly awesome. they do not obay the laws of traffic...or physics sometimes. if I take one, it will take about 15 mins to get to school. If I do not it will take 40. Today it took 70, but it was raining.
Thai time is kinda like almost time...it runs whenever it feels like it, possibly relitive to the sun. Logic is not...
and how did this road get over there....
Sometimes I feel like I'm in Thailand, sometimes the slums of Detroit, and sometimes the best resort in Arizona.
Welcome to Bangkok, please leave your sanity at the door.

--- additional note --- Now I have taken the boat. Its close to the school, but not so close to home. It is on a river, and its wet, and smells kinda funny, and its way awesome. ---